An astonishing report of a Brown Booby hit the headlines on Wednesday 2nd March. An adult bird was picked up exhausted at the Droskyn cliff top car park, overlooking Perranporth beach. The bird was found around 18th Feb when Storm Eunice hit the county. Two non birders found it and took it to Mousehole bird hospital. It was apparently too malnourished and weak to make a recovery and died.
Maximum wind gust was 82 mph in the county whilst 122mph was recorded in Hampshire. The wind direction was due west and the isobars showed a direct line from the UK to America. Presumably this bird got caught up in the storm and found its way to Cornwall.
This is the third record of Brown Booby in Cornwall, following one in St Ives bay in August 2019, and another at Kynance, Lizard in September 2019. (A fourth bird was seen off Pendeen in August 2020 but is yet to be submitted). The sudden increase in records presumably points towards global warming and a change in sea temperature.
Twitter link here for photos.
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| Storm Eunice showing the 973 Low. |
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